The cannabis industry is plowing full steam ahead despite political opposition, reaching nearly $9.5 billion in consumer spending worldwide last year, $8.5 billion of that generated in the US, according to a new report from Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics.
And, this year for the first time, adult use is expected to outpace medical use.
The report, “The State of Legal Marijuana Markets,” released Tuesday, June 5, 2018, might be viewed as an affirmative referendum on cannabis use.
Politicians who supported adult use cannabis at one time had to worry about losing voters in doing so. No longer.
“I think the votes are in,” said Tom Adams, managing director and principal analyst of BDS Analytics. “Really, the political risk now lies with the prohibitionists’ side, which is at risk of losing votes. That’s a real turning of the tables. That’s why you are seeing this flood of people changing their views.”